Yu-Gi-Oh GX: New Adventure
by Wolf of the Black Rose
Summary: Jaden gets chosen for a summer study abroad program. When he comes back, he's a different person, but in a good way. With new and old friends, this year is going to be an interesting one.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome back, and here's a new story. I get this idea after reading one of YGO Fangirl's stories. She's another one of my muses.**

 **Sakura: What about me?!**

 **You're my dark half, there's a difference! Anyway, in this story, Jaden will get the Neo-Spacians and Yubel back earlier and he and Jesse will be childhood friends (as well as something else *wink wink*). Rose, if you would.**

 **Rose: Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. She just owns her OC's, the idea, and any cards she makes up.**

 **And here we go.**

Chapter 1: A New Chapter and A Surprise

The gang, along with Zane and Atticus, had gathered in the chancellor's office to finish up the congratulations and good byes, since Chumley was going to be leaving soon for his new job at Industrial Illusions.

"Well, Chum, I guess this is it." Syrus said, trying to sound upbeat and failing miserably.

"Come on, guys. Goodbyes aren't forever." Jaden said, doing a far better job at being upbeat.

"Jaden's right." Alexis agreed, being just as strong.

"Thanks, guys." Chumley said, smiling even though he was crying.

"We'll certainly miss you, Chumley." Bastion spoke.

Chazz just grunted, having never been one to get emotional.

"Well, this is cause for celebration!" Atticus declared in his usual goofy tone. "Let's have a party!"

"NO!" Alexis, Zane, and Crowler shouted at the same time.

"Why not?" Atticus whined like a little kid.

"You were barred from throwing parties after what happened at my thirteenth birthday party!" His sister growled.

"And I'm agreeing after freshman year's New Year's party fiasco!" Zane said in a threatening tone.

"How was I supposed to know that one of the third years was going to spike the punch?!" Atticus tried to defend himself, before giving a sly smile as he remembered something. "And you weren't complaining when we came to the next morning and realized that we'd-"

Zane covered his mouth, his face almost completely red and exuding a dangerous aura. "Finish that sentence in front of my brother and I'll kill you! Finish that sentence _at all_ and I'll kill you!"

Though since his mouth was covered, Zane didn't see the sneaky grin Atticus had until he felt something wet on his hand.

"Ah!" He jumped, pulling back his hand in shock and disgust. "You licked me!"

"Would you have preferred I bite you?" Atticus asked smartly. There was a hidden, suggestive meaning behind that.

"Can you be anymore immature?!" Zane asked, wiping his hand on pants while glaring at Atticus.

"Yes I can, actually!" Atticus smirked wider as he tackled Zane in a hug.

"Will you get off me?!" Zane shouted, trying to dislodge Atticus from him.

Everyone just burst out laughing at the spectacle. Even Chazz and Crowler were laughing at the tops duelist's plight. Only Atticus could make Zane lose his cool.

"Alright, you two, break it up." Shepard said between laughs.

After the boys broke apart, he spoke again. "I'm willing to let you kids have a party. However, Dr. Crowler will be supervising to avoid another fiasco."

They agreed, and everyone began filing out of the room. "Ah, Jaden, could you stay for a moment? There's something I wish to speak to you about."

Everyone looked at Jaden, who just shrugged, before leaving the room. Jaden turned back and moved to stand in front of the desk.

"Am I in trouble?" He asked, thinking he was.

Shepard raised an eyebrow, before laughing. "No, in fact, I have big news. You've been selected to be on an abroad program this summer. It's mostly a travel program where we choose one or more students to go to various places across the globe to see dueling in different countries. Our four academy branches as well as our American counterpart also choose students. Normally, we look at academics and dueling skills, but this year we just looked at the latter and you were highly recommended. Congratulations!"

Jaden was stunned. He never thought he'd be able to go anywhere outside his hometown or Duel Academy. This was a dream come true.

"Wow! When do I go? Will I be traveling with anyone? Will I be back for second year?" He started firing of questions, still partially in shock.

Shepard laughed again, seeing the excitement in the teen's eyes. He held up his hand to stop Jaden. "To answer your questions, yes, you will be back for second year. Yes, you will be traveling with ten other individuals at the start. You will start with three of them. One is a young man from North Academy and the other two are young ladies from a new, prestigious private duel academy called Duel Tech, who recently got into the program. Along your route, you will be joined by two students from West Academy, two from South Academy, two from East Academy, and finally one from the American Duel Academy."

"As for when you go, you will actually be leaving in a few days time. So, you will have some time to prepare for the trip and inform your parents." When Jaden nodded in understanding, the chancellor told him he may go.

Meanwhile, outside the door, the rest of the gang was spying to see what was up. Even Crowler and Chazz were curious.

"What do you suppose the chancellor wants with Jaden?" Bastion asked in a whisper. They were keeping their voices down as a precaution, in case they could be heard.

"I don't know." Atticus answered with a shrug.

"Maybe the slacker's finally getting expelled!" Crowler said, gleefully.

"Dr. Crowler!" Zane hissed.

"Sweet, I will get his room this time!" Chazz said with equal glee.

"Will the two of you knock it off!" Alexis hissed that them.

"I'm with Alexis on that." Atticus supported his sister, looking surprisingly serious.

"Anyway," Syrus piped up. "I just hope Jaden's not in any kind of trouble."

"Yeah, 'cause that would be totally anti-licious." Chumley added.

"Don't worry guys, he's fine." Zane assured. He had a hunch about what this was about.

Just then, Jaden came out of the office. Once he did, everyone can on him with questions.

"So, what's up?" Syrus asked first. "What did the chancellor want to talk to you about?"

"Is it another save-the-world thing?" Atticus added.

"Come on, out with it!" Chazz demanded.

"Guys, one at a time!" Alexis said, getting the others to stop so Jaden could talk.

"The chancellor told me that I've been chosen for a summer abroad program," Jaden said, still kind of dazed from the news. "Me and students from other schools are going to go globe trotting all summer."

"Wow!" The group responded at once. They were just as surprised as Jaden had been.

Syrus spoke up again. "That sounds awesome, Jay!"

"Congratulations!" Alexis exclaimed, happy for her friend. "When do you go?"

Jaden hesitated a moment before answering. "I leave in a few days."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes before Atticus spoke up in a chipper tone. "All the more reason to have a party! A send off for both Chumley and Jaden!"

To his surprise, everyone agreed with him.

 _Later that night, at the Slifer dorm_

They had decided to have the party at the Slifer dorm, since it was just going to be them. It was surprisingly mellow for something thought up by Atticus. It was just snacks and socializing.

Jaden had slipped away some time during the festivities and was now sitting by the cliff looking at the night sky. So many emotions were going through him.

' _I never thought I'd have the chance at an adventure like this. I'm excited, but I'm also nervous. I'll be traveling with people I don't know.'_

For some reason, Jaden's mind kept going to an emerald eye boy he met some years ago. ' _And why have I started thinking about him again, after all this time?'_

Jaden continued to stare at the sky as his feelings bounced back and forth between excitement and worry. He heard a soft 'coo' sound and looked over to see Winged Kuriboh next to him. The little spirit was curious as to what had his master so perplexed.

"Oh, hi, Winged Kuriboh." The furball cooed again in a questioning manner, like he was asking what was wrong. "Well, a new adventure is coming soon. There'll be new places to see, new people to meet and duel, but, I won't be traveling with my friends. I'll be with people I've never met before. I'll admit, I'm a little scared."

"Plus, it's made me start thinking about someone I haven't seen in years." The little spirit cooed again, asking who he was talking about. "His name's Jesse. We met one day at the park when we were kids. We played together for a few months before his family had to move back to America. I haven't thought about him since, until now. Maybe a part of me is hoping I'll run into him."

Kuriboh nodded in understanding and gave some words of encouragement in his little Kuriboh language. "You're right, Kuriboh. It's a chance at a new adventure and it's okay to be scared, but I won't let it stop me. Thanks, buddy."

His spirit friend nodded and then vanished. Jaden then resumed looking at the stars, feeling his worries fade away.

He soon felt another presence behind him. Turning around, he was surprised to see Zane standing there. "Oh, hey, Zane. What's up?"

"Jaden, after we see Chumley off tomorrow, meet me at the arena," Zane said, looking very serious. "We're going to have our rematch."

Jaden was surprised, but nodded in agreement.

 _The next morning, the docks_

The gang was gathered at the docks to see Chumley off. As expected, there was some crying (Syrus) and hugging.

"Well, so long, Chumley." Jaden said with a smile.

Chumley nodded and fought back the tears. "Well, I better go. There's a lot of work ahead of me."

"And I have a feeling you're going to do great."

After a few more goodbyes, Chumley boarded the helicopter, which was soon flying off into the distance. The group continued to wave until it was out of sight.

"Well, there he goes." Chazz said matter-of-factly, though deep down he was a little sad to see the older student go.

"I miss him already." Syrus sniffled, trying to stop the tears.

"Don't worry, Syrus," Alexis said, putting up a strong front. "I'm sure we'll meet again, someday."

"Alexis is right," Bastion agreed, his mind flashing to a girl with long, fiery red tresses and silvery-blue eyes. "Life is full of meetings and partings. We're bound to meet again."

"Amen to that," Atticus agreed. "What do you think, Zane?"

When he didn't get an answer, he turned to see that Zane wasn't there. "Hey, where'd Zane go?"

They all turned to see that Zane _was_ gone. They also noticed something else.

"Hey, Jaden's gone, too!" Syrus pointed out.

"Where did those two go?" Crowler wondered aloud.

"I wonder…" Atticus mused. Since he knew Zane the best, he had thought about where to go. "Hey, guys, follow me. I have an idea."

They all looked at each other and then followed after Atticus.

 _Main Arena_

Zane and Jaden had slipped away after Chumley left and were now at the main arena. It was currently deserted, since the other students were most likely studying for finals. They made their way to the platform and stood across from each other.

"Ready, Jaden?" Zane asked as he activated his duel disk.

"I've been ready since our first duel." Jaden replied, copying his actions.

At one of the entrances, Atticus lead the others right to them.

"Good call, Atticus," Alexis said, moving forward to get a better look. "Looks like they're going to duel."

"It's going to be calm, cool, and collected vs. fast and furious!" Her brother agreed with a large grin.

"I don't know about furious, but Jaden is fast." She conceded

"Either way, it's going to be an impressive match." Bastion spoke, watching the duel intently.

"It should be _my_ match!" Chazz grumbled.

Shepard had also been with the group and was anticipating an interesting match. They all slipped into the arena and took their seats to watch the duel.

Zane had taken the lead early on, since Jaden was trying to duel with his head instead of his heart like he always did. Thankfully, he snapped out of it, and was able to end the duel in a tie.

"Wow! That was an awesome duel, Zane! You really are the best!" Jaden commented, getting up from being knocked down by the blast.

"Maybe, but my time in the spotlight here is done," Zane said, as he walked up to Jaden. "And I feel I'm leaving Duel Academy in good hands."

He and the hero duelist then shook hands. "Good luck, Jaden, with next year and your trip."

"Thanks, Zane, and good luck with the Pro Leagues!" Jaden answered.

"That was awesome!" Syrus exclaimed, catching the two duelists' attention.

"Nice duel, you two!" Alexis added.

The others were also thoroughly impressed by the duel.

"Nice work, on both parts. I have high hopes for the both of you in the future." Shepard said, quite proud of both his students.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Atticus said. "Let's have a beach party!"

"What is it with you and parties?" Chazz deadpanned, wondering why he looked up to this guy.

"You'll get to see Alexis in a swimsuit~" He whispered to him.

Now he remembered.

"I heard that!" Alexis shouted, hitting both boys on the head.

This caused the group to go into a fit of laughter.

 _The beach_

After the laughter subsided, the gang had agreed to go to the beach. Crowler and Shepard had work they needed to do, so it was just the kids. While the freshmen played by the water, Atticus and Zane a little ways away, watching them, like parents watching their kids play.

Since they were pretty much alone, Atticus decided to finally ask Zane the question that had been on his mind since yesterday. "You were the one who nominated Jaden for the program, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was." Zane acknowledged.

"Why?"

"Of all the nominees, Jaden deserved it the most." Zane explained. As usual, he says more with just a few words.

Atticus hummed in understanding before going quiet again. Now he was starting to feel uncomfortable for some reason, he wasn't sure why. He had known Zane for years and had gotten… closer last year.

' _It must be because of our time apart.'_ Atticus deduced, now feeling sad because Zane was graduating and he wasn't. He had always fantasized about them going through life together, but now, thanks to those stupid Shadow Riders, he would be stuck at Duel Academy to make up the time he missed while Zane moved on.

This scared him the most. What if while they're apart Zane meets someone and forgets him?

While these thoughts were running through his head, he didn't notice Zane looking at him, watching his expressions like he could tell what he was thinking.

"Atticus?" Said boy turned just in time to have his lips meet Zane's in a kiss.

His eyes widened at the gesture of affection, knowing they weren't Zane's thing, especially in public. After a minute pause, he closed his eyes and went with the flow as Zane deepened the kiss. When they parted, Zane moved his face closer to his ear.

"Meet me at my room, tonight." He whispered lowly, making Atticus shiver lightly at the tone.

Zane then pulled back and turned back to the ocean as the others came up to them, quietly taking the other boy's hand in the process.

Atticus also turned back, hoping that no one could see how red his face was.

 _A few days later_

The time for Jaden to go was soon upon them. They had all gathered at the docks, where the cruise ship was waiting.

Jaden was particularly anxious, from both excitement and nerves. He hadn't been able to get ahold of his parents since they worked long hours, but he hoped they got the message he left them.

The send off was a lot like Chumley's, only with possibly even more crying.

"Well, Jaden, looks like it's time to go." Alexis said, trying to be strong.

"Be sure to call from time to time." Bastion requested, putting up a brave face.

"I'll keep in touch." Jaden replied.

"Yeah, whatever," Chazz said, trying to sound like he didn't care. "Now, go on! Get going!"

"I know you'll make Duel Academy proud, Jaden." Zane declared, sounding like a proud mentor.

The Slifer gave the graduating duelist a confident smile as a way of saying 'thank you'.

"I'm going to miss you, Jaden!" Syrus cried, latching onto the boy in a hug, balling like a little baby.

"Ah, Sy, get off!" Jaden yelped, trying to push his roommate off.

Everyone just started laughing at the two.

After finally separating them, Jaden said good-bye, gave everyone a hug, except Chazz and Crowler for obvious reasons, and then boarded the ship. As it pulled away, he stood near the railing watching the others wave to him, him waving back. He stayed like that, until he watched their forms leave the dock.

He was about to go find his room when a familiar southern accented voice stopped him. "Hey, there!"

Jaden slowly turned and was met by a very familiar teen with emerald eyes. The Slifer stared for a while before a thought dawned on him, a smile trying to play at his lips.

"Jesse?"

The other boy smiled. "Good to see you remember me, old friend."

 **And I'm going to leave it at that.**

 **Antonio: Well, that bit with Zane and Atticus should be obvious to all pervs or those who know what a lemon is.**

 **Oh, yeah, you know they did it. What can I say? I like that pairing. Also, the next chapter is going to go right to second year, since this story will mostly be about how a different Jaden effects the series. I will do a separate story about his and the others adventures on the trip. Plus, I didn't write the duel since it was the same as in the show. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have classes in the morning. So, like always, read, review, and stay tuned!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, there was a mix up with my files, so the wrong chapter got put up here. The file for the actual chapter expired, so now I had to rewrite it from scratch. You know the disclaimer, so here's chapter two, again.**

Chapter 2: Welcome Back

One bright morning, out on the vast blue ocean, a familiar looking cruise liner was making its way towards its destination.

On one of the upper decks, a young man with short, spiky, red hair and teal green eyes was talking into a voice recorder. He wore a brown and white blazer with no sleeves, with gray pants and brown boots. He also had black prayer beads around his neck, and thin rimless glasses that were mainly there for fashion purposes.

His name was Adrian Gecko, a student from East Academy and one of the students who was chosen for the summer program. Let's just say he has a few choice words about their ride.

"It's day three aboard the SS Dull and Boring, and I'm ready to jump overboard!" He joked.

"Oh, please do." A female voice said sarcastically.

Over by the railing stood two girls who were enjoying each others company. The one who had spoken was shorter than her companion, only standing about five foot nothing, with long dirty blonde hair, tan skin, and hard blue eyes. She was wearing black jeans with white edges, a matching tank top, white sneakers, and a card locket around her neck. Her name was Vala Kaiba, one of the students from Duel Tech who came on the trip.

Her comment had gotten laugh from her companion, Midnight Muto, who was also from Duel Tech. She was about six inches taller than Vala, with pale skin, crimson eyes, and shoulder length tri-colored hair, it was mostly black with violet-red tips and gold bangs. She was wearing a black hoodie with yellow sleeves over a dark blue t-shirt, black jeans, red and black sneakers with white soles, and a necklace with an Eye of Horus and Knot of Isis charm on it.

"Vala, be nice."

"That was nice."

Midnight smiled again before turning to Adrian. "You know, Adrian, you really should socialize a little more, and I mean with actual people, not that recorder."

"She's gotcha there, Adrian." Came a new voice.

Sitting in a deck chair behind him was a young man playing a handheld game. He had medium length brown hair and azure eyes. He was wearing cargo pants, sneakers, and a black and white t-shirt. His name was Ren Ishikawa, and he was another student from East Academy.

"You're one to talk," Adrian threw back at him, but he was still smiling, before turning back to his recording. "The voices you heard just now belonged to the two Duel Tech students, Vala Kaiba and Midnight Muto, and my friend and partner in crime, Ren Ishikawa. I was personally surprised when I learned that the children of famous duelists were going to be on this trip. I was also surprised when I learned they were together, given how their parents act. Also, since Ren spends most of his time on his games and ignoring the world, he's not allowed to make comments about my social habits."

"Anyway, back to my rant. They call this a cruise? Then where's the pool party and the karaoke machine? And the all-you-can eat buffet lunch? And what's the deal with the passenger shortage? There's only 12 of us on this floating nightmare, six of them are girls, and one of them's a five hundred pound crocodile named Shirley!"

Down near the pool on the lower deck, said croc was laying out, staring off into space. Using her as a pillow was a young man dressed like a cowboy. He has black hair and his right eye was bandaged, but his remaining eye was blue, which you would see if it was open. He wore a white shirt, black vest and jeans, orange handkerchief, brown cowboy hat, and a holster for his duel disk.

"She hangs out all day with this guy named Jim Cook, and _they_ hang out all with a girl named Lillian Martin, also called Lily. She basically looks like Dark Magician Girl reborn as a California girl, but don't let that fool you, she's actually really smart. The three of them haven't moved from their spot since we set sail!"

A short distance away from the human and animal duo was a young woman sunbathing in a deck chair. Like Adrian had described, she did look like the famous Spellcaster, only she was currently wearing a red two-piece swimsuit and dark sunglasses, she also had headphones on. She had a drink and snacks on the table beside her and was reading a magazine.

"And they're some of the normal ones among us! Which is more than I could say for the students from West Academy, who would remind you of military school kids. So, enter Axel Brodie and Vanesa Johansen."

 _Elsewhere_

Meanwhile, below deck, the two West Academy students in question were tuning up their duel disks and decks.

Axel was a dark-skinned, black dreadlocked man wearing the West Academy uniform, which consisted of a red muscle shirt, black vest, pants, and combat boots, and white bandages wrapped around his wrists. His duel disk was yellow and it doubled as a gun, being able shoot cards as projectile.

His companion, Vanesa, looked like a female version of him. She was dressed in a similar manner, only her shirt was black. She had long black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, and a lean, toned body. Her duel disk was black and also functioned as a machete, complete with hidden blade.

" _They're not exactly the friendliest kids on the playground, so if you're in a fight, you definitely want them on your side. Despite the tough exteriors, I think they might like each other as more than friends. Nothing confirmed, but I can kinda sense the chemistry between the two. As can the final girl of our group."_

Axel had gotten up from the couch and practiced readying his duel disk. Vanesa smiled slightly at him and continued her own work.

That was when they heard a knock at the door. Vanesa smirked, like she knew who was there.

"What's up, Rose?" She greeted the door.

"I will never understand how you do that." A muffled voice came from the other side.

Axel went over to the door to open it. The person behind it had long red hair and silvery-blue eyes. She was wearing the female uniform for the American Duel Academy.

" _Her name is Rosalie Smith, but she often goes by Rose. She's the representative from the American school, but she's originally from London, England."_

"I just wanted to let you guys know we will be arriving at Academy Island within an hour. Everybody's supposed to gather their stuff." The red head explained.

"Roger." Vanesa responded while Axel just nodded in understanding.

Rose than headed down the hall to another room to relay the same message to the last two members of the group. When she arrived at the door in question, she lightly knocked on the door to get the attention of the occupants.

"Yes?" Called a voice from inside.

"Are you boys decent?" She asked, smiling mischievously.

"Shut up, Rose!" Called a second voice, which sounded embarrassed.

She laughed a little before getting down to business. "Just letting you know you might wanna get ready, we'll be at Duel Academy in an hour."

With that, she left.

" _Finally, we get to the last two members of our group, the representative from North Academy, Jesse Anderson, and the one from Duel Academy, the infamous Jaden Yuki. From what I learned the too had some history before the trip started. Now, they're together, which is surprising given the rivalry their two schools have."_

Inside the room, Rose had hit the nail on the head, as the boys were now getting dress.

Jesse looked a lot like Jaden, only with blue hair, green eyes, and a southern accent. He was wearing a lavender shirt, black pants, brown boots, and a blue vest that looked a lot like the Obelisk jackets. He glanced over at Jaden, smiling lovingly.

Jaden had changed since he left school at the end of last year. His facial features seemed sharper, like they had lost the last of their baby fat. His physique was more athletic, resembling a free-runner's build. His hair was also slightly longer and spikier. His uniform was mostly the same, only his jacket fit him a little better, his shirt was a different style, and he now wore dark gray to black jeans. What seemed to change the most was aura he gave off, it wasn't as blinding as before but it was still warm and inviting. To put it into an analogy, he went from being a summer beach party to a warm fireplace on Christmas Eve.

Jaden had finished getting dressed when he felt someone hug him from behind. Smiling, he turned around, not breaking the hold, and had a long kiss with Jesse.

"Ready for school, Jay?" Jesse asked.

"For once, yes."

 _Academy Island_

At the destination in question, Bastion was doing some duel exercises, trying to get back in practice before the year starts.

"Hey, Bastion!" Called a voice from behind him.

Said person turned to see Atticus coming up to him. "Hello, Atticus."

"So, today's the day Jaden comes back."

"Yes," Bastion nodded. "How's Zane doing?"

Atticus ignored the loneliness building inside of him. "He got scouted by a sponsor over the summer. He's started his career in the Pro League a few days ago."

Bastion hummed in understanding before looking out over the ocean. "This year is going to bring some changes, isn't it?"

Atticus nodded, following his gaze. "Yeah, I just hope this year will be a quiet one."

 _Back on the ship_

"My prayers have been answered! Our seafaring days are over! So after three days of extreme boredom, Adrian Gecko is ready for Duel Academy!" Adrian finished his recording before adding, "But is Duel Academy ready for me?"

Ren put his game away and came up next to his friend, getting a look at the island. He was actually thinking the same thing.

Down on the lower deck, Jim had gotten up from his nap and getting a good look at their destination, lifting his croc over his head. "Blue skies, gorgeous coastline. Just like back home! Right, Shirley?!"

Shirley just gave a quiet 'hiss' in response.

Lily laughed at her friends' antics. She had gone back to her room to get change. She was now wearing a pale pink blouse with a white frill going up the front that ended in a bow, a short sleeve beige-white sweater with buttons, a darker pink plaid pleated shirt, and short tan-gray boots with white frilly socks peeking out the top.

"I think we're gonna like here!" She smiled.

Rose looked at the island a little uncertain. "Is it really a good idea to have a school on an island with a volcano?"

"Oh, come on! My dad's not that sadistic!" Vala gripped.

Midnight laughed a little before reassuring Rose. "Don't worry, Rose, that volcano is completely dormant."

The West Academy students came up a few minutes later. Vanesa gave Axel a look after she saw the volcano. "You are not training using there!"

Axel didn't say anything, but he got the message loud and clear.

"Come on, Jesse!" Jaden beamed as he lead his boyfriend on to the deck.

They went over to the rail, leaning slightly to get a better look. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful," Jesse breathed, leaning in close to Jaden's ear, wrapping his arms around his waist. "I think some of that beauty rubbed off on you."

Jaden's face almost matched his jacket after that sentence.

"Hey, nothing past PG, you two!" Jim called over to them.

This made the couple blush and got a laugh from everyone else. This was definitely going to be an interesting year.

 _A little while later_

When they made landfall, everyone gathered their luggage and headed towards their lodgings. Since Jaden was already a student at the academy, he was going to stay in his room at the Slifer dorm while the others stayed in the Obelisk dorm, boy and girl respectively.

As Jaden made his way to his dorm, he started thinking about seeing his old friends again. "I've changed a bit, I wonder how they'll react to it?"

" _ **I don't think they'll mind."**_ Responded a voice from beside him.

Jaden looked over and saw a dragon-human like hybrid spirit. It appeared female and she wore all black. Sher hair was spiky and in two colors, white and purple. Her eyes were also two different colors, orange and green, and she had a third eye in the middle of her forehead.

Her name was Yubel and she was a new spirit of Jaden's. Well, technically, she's an old spirit of his. She had been Jaden's best and favorite card when he was a kid, but for reasons, they had to seperate. Jaden found her again while he was in South America.

He smiled at her, thankful for her support. "Thanks, Yubel."

The spirit smiled at him before taking her leave. Soon, Jay was back at the dorm he called home during the school year.

"Almost like I never left." He said, looking around his room.

After putting his things away, he decided to spend the time reorganizing his deck. He had gotten some new cards over the course of his adventure and was working on a way to work them into his deck. He got so focused that he didn't hear the door open until someone spoke up.

"Jaden?" Said person turned to see Syrus standing in the doorway, surprised to see him.

Jay gave his friend a smile he reserved only for his friends. "Hey, Sy, long time no see!"

Finally getting over his shock, Syrus teared up and tackled Jaden in a hug, sending them back into the wall. "Jaden!"

"Ow, Sy!" Jay moaned, rubbing the back of his head where he was hit.

The shorter Slifer looked up at his friend and gave him a teary smile. "Welcome back, Jay!"

Jaden returned the smile and the hug. "You too, Syrus, welcome back!"

 **Again, I apologize for the mix up, hopefully it won't happen again. Read, review, and stay tune!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, now we're getting into the second season.**

 **Wilma: Aster shows up, and apparently he and Jaden met during the trip.**

 **Antonio: And Jaden doesn't like him.**

 **That will be explained when I make the story about the trip. Anyway, someone do the disclaimer.**

 **Nicholas: Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, she just owns her OC's, the idea, and cards she makes up.**

 **Now, on with the chapter!**

Chapter 3: Back and Dueling

" _Here we are: Year two at Duel Academy!" Jaden narrates. "Somehow, I passed all my finals, got picked for a summer exchange program, globe trotted all summer, got together with one childhood friend and reunited with another, and now I'm back and chillin' in the Slifer Red dorm."_

" _Jaden?" Syrus asked. "Uh, who ya talking to?"_

" _You finally lose it, Hero Boy?" Vala asked._

" _No, Vala, I'm talking to my fans."_

" _Who says they're yours, maybe they're here to see yours truly." Adrian put in._

" _In all your big-headed glory." Ren wise-cracked, not looking up from his game._

" _Ok, fellas, don't start!" Midnight interrupted._

" _Besides, maybe the fans, whoever they like, should just read for themselves." Jesse got in._

 _Duel Academy Docks_

A cruise boat, similar to the one the transfers had come on, was pulling up to the dock, only this one was carrying the incoming freshmen.

Running to said docks were two adults. One was the ever popular Dr. Crowler, head of the Obelisk blue dorm.

The other was a short, fat, balding male wearing a green blazer and the only hair he had was on the back of his head. To top it off, he had a thin, curly mustache that matched his _eyebrows_. Weirdest look I've seen since Dorothy from Gundam Wing.

"Keep up, you Swedish meatball! They're almost here!" Crowler exclaimed.

"I'm French, you imbecile!" The other man replied. "Pardonne-moi for not having longer legs! Besides, what's the rush about?"

"I told you. The freshmen. Their boat is arriving as we speak!" Crowler explained, gleefully.

"So big whoop. Just 'cause you've been promoted to school chancellor, all of a sudden you care?"

 _Pause_

" _Did I hear that right?" Rose asked._

" _Yup," Jaden sighed. "Crowler's head of the school now."_

" _Well, this is gonna suck!" Vanesa muttered._

" _Who's the other guy?" Ren asked, finally looking at the situation._

" _That's his new sidekick, Vice Chancellor Bonaparte," Jaden explained. "Now, these two-"_

" _Ah, guys. You're narrating again." Jim interrupted._

" _Ah, right, sorry."_

 _Play_

"Surely you didn't drag me out here just to greet the new students! So fess up, monsieur!" Bonaparte demanded.

"Feast your eyes on this!" Crowler laughed as he held up a magazine.

"Did I miss the joke?!" The vice chancellor asked.

"Are you calling Aster Phoenix a joke?!" Crowler opened the magazine and showed a picture with a young man in a white suit. With silver hair and blue eyes, he looked very handsome.

"Not only is this superstar the top-ranked duelist in the entire world, he's joined the freshman class of our very school!"

"There must be a mistake!" Bonaparte questioned. "I mean, a world class professional going back to school? But why?"

"I don't know, but with a celebrity under my tutelage, I'll be famous!" The new chancellor dreamed. "After all, everyone on earth knows Aster Phoenix!"

 _Slifer Dorm_

"Alright, kid! I don't know why you tracked me down to Duel Academy, but let's duel!" Jaden said to the person across to him, who he knew was Aster Phoenix. "Or should I say, get your game on!"

On top of the cliff, Syrus and a woman named Dorothy were watching the duel that was about to start.

"Day one and Jaden's already dueling. But with who?" Dorothy asked.

"Beats me," Syrus pondered. "But he definitely looks familiar!"

"Want to tell the audience your name, Freshman?" Jaden asked his opponent.

"You can call me A.P." He greeted, like they didn't know each other.

This made Jaden a little annoyed. "All right, AP, let's throw down!"

" _ **Be careful, Jaden, there's something off with this guy."**_ Yubel cautioned.

Jaden nodded.

Both players then drew their opening hands and activated their duel disks.

Jaden: 4000

Aster: 4000

"Ok. You ready, freshman?" Jaden asked, going to take advantage of the opportunity to jab at Aster.

"Bring it." Aster responded, in his usual confidence.

As 'AP' drew his next card, the two spectators were approached by a small group. It consisted of Chazz, Alexis, and the exchange students.

"Wow. Jaden doesn't waste any time, does he?" Alexis stated.

"Why am I not surprised he's already dueling, barely three hours after we got here?" Vala added.

"Probably just glad to be back home." Jim figured.

Shirley rumbled a little, as if agreeing with her friend.

"It figures he challenge a freshman." Chazz scoffed, not seeing the glare from Jesse at his boyfriend being bad mouthed.

"Actually…" Syrus interrupted, looking at Jaden's opponent. "That guy challenged him."

 _Flashback_

 _Jaden and Syrus were in their room, Jaden sitting on the bed and Syrus sitting in the desk chair._

 _He was telling Syrus all about his summer, until they were interrupted by a knock on the door. They turned to see silver haired guy in a suit standing in the door, which they had left open to let in the last of the summer breeze._

" _He just showed up in our dorm room and was all, "I'm here to throw down with the best duelist in the academy. And from what I hear, that's Jaden Yuki.""_

 _Present_

"And that brings us here." Syrus finished.

"So this guy sought Jaden out." Adrian summed up.

"Guess Jaden's reputation precedes him." Rose added.

"You could say that," Syrus agreed, turning to the group. "Are you guys the other students Jay traveled with?"

"Yup, that's us!" Lily greeted, smiling. "My name's Lillian Martin and I'm from South Academy. You can call me Lily!"

Syrus was completely smitten by her beauty and personality, reminding him of the Dark Magician Girl.

"H-H-H-Hi, nice to meet you, I-I'm Syrus." The Slifer boy stuttered.

"Nice to finally meet you, Syrus," Jim said. "Jaden told us a lot about you and the other blokes he duels with."

"My name's Jim," He then gestured to the croc on his back. "And this is Shirley. We're Lily's classmates from South Academy."

The crocodile growled a greeting, scaring the crud out the four people who thought it was a fake. Guess who?

Adrian laughed. "Yeah, surprised me, too, when I first met Shirley. I'm Adrian, by the way, and I'm from East Academy."

He points to the West Academy students. "Those guys are Axel and Vanesa, and they're from West Academy."

Axel grunted and Vanesa gave a small smile.

Adrian then pointed to his classmate. "And that's my classmate, Ren Ishikawa."

"Nice to meet you." Ren glanced up from his game briefly, before diving back into the 2D world.

"He's always like that, he's actually a good guy." Adrian told them.

"My name's Midnight Muto, and this here is my girlfriend, Vala Kaiba. We're from Duel Tech!" Midnight introduced, laughing when the four stared. "Yes, we're related to those Muto's and Kaiba's."

Vala nodded a greeting.

"My name's Rosalie Smith," Rose stepped forward next. "But you can call me Rose. I'm from the American Duel Academy, but I'm originally from London."

The last member of the group stepped forward. "And I'm Jesse, from North Academy!"

"It's nice to meet you all," Alexis said. "I'm Alexis, this is Syrus, Chazz, and Ms. Dorothy."

"Hi. Say, do any of you know who Jaden's opponent is?" Dorothy asked them.

"Yeah, take a close look," Syrus pondered. "I could swear I've seen that guy before."

'AP' looked at the cards in his hand.

"Well, let's see what you got, Freshman!" Jaden smirked. It may have seemed juvenile, but he liked the fact he could pick on the brat and he couldn't do anything about it.

"You're right!" Alexis agreed after looking him over.

"Yeah, he does look familiar." Chazz added.

The transfers all looked at Jaden's opponent and they all thought the same thing at once. ' _Uh oh!'_

Ren officially lost all interest in his game. "Oh, this should be good."

"Hey, Chazz, maybe he graduated from that snooty prep school of yours." Ms. Dorothy commented.

"Good call!" Syrus grinned. "He definitely looks rich enough and stuck up enough."

"Look, Shrimp, he's nothing like me!" Chazz snapped.

"Ojama Yellow in defense mode!" Chazz face faulted as 'AP' summoned one of Chazz's monsters, a yellow creature with eyestalks wearing bikini briefs (0/1000).

"Ojama? You sure?" Jaden asked, confused by the monster Aster just played. He knew Aster's real deck, and Ojama wasn't in it.

"Told ya we're not alike!" Chazz said. "That's gotta be one of the dumbest moves I've ever seen! I would never start out with a lame card like that!"

That's when the spirit version of Ojama Yellow appeared by the black clad Slifer's shoulder. " _ **You'd save the best for last! Right, Boss!? Right!?"**_

"Wrong. Now beat it, Pit Stain!"

" _ **I love it when you use my pet name!"**_ Yellow exclaimed, not seeing the insult, before disappearing.

"Excuse me?!" Alexis glared at Chazz. She couldn't see duel spirits, so she didn't know Chazz was talking to Ojama Yellow.

"Oh, ah, nothing." Chazz said, embarrassed and fearful.

"Whatev's." Alexis shrugged turning back to the duel.

Chazz proceeded to take out his deck and growl at it.

"Um, buddy," Rose leaned in to whisper to him. "If you're going to talk to duel spirits, best not to do so out loud."

"Yeah," Vala added. "Otherwise people think you escaped from the looney bin."

Chazz stopped growling and looked at the two girls. "... You guys too?"

"Yup," Rose and Vala said, Midnight, Lily, and Jesse nodding as well.

The spirit of Freya, Spirit of Victory appeared next to Rose.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Baby Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Flame Swordsman appeared with Vala.

Celtic Guardian, Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Magician of Black Chaos, Kuriboh, Silver Fang, and Black Luster Soldier appeared behind Midnight.

Ebon Magician Curran, White Magician Pikeru, the six charmers, Mystical Elf, and Fog King appeared behind Lily.

And finally, a small, purple squirrel like creature appeared on Jesse's soldier.

Chazz just got a look that said 'whoa' and promptly stopped talking after that.

" _ **Hi, mistress,"**_ Freya greeted, in her usual pep. " _ **I thought I heard Ojama Yellow out here a moment ago."**_

"You just missed him." Rose whispered.

" _ **My, so this is Duel Academy?"**_ Mystical Elf looked around. " _ **What a lovely place."**_

" _ **Yeah, I have a feeling we're gonna like it here!"**_ Dark Magician Girl agreed.

" _ **A change of venue doesn't mean that you get out your of lessons, Mana."**_ Dark Magician spoke up, giving the blond magician a stern look, said magician deflating a bit.

Magician of Black Chaos snickered at the display.

Baby Dragon and Silver Fang growled and barked drawing the other spirits' attention to the duel down below.

" _ **What is it, you two?"**_ Flame Swordsman asked.

" _ **It appears Sir Jaden has entered a duel."**_ Fog King observed.

" _ **Who is the opponent he is facing?"**_ Celtic Guardian asked.

Ebon Magician Curran floated over to look. When she saw who it was, she flipped. " _ **What's that snob doing here?!"**_

Red-Eyes and Blue-Eyes growled lowly at the sight of the other boy.

" _ **I wanna turn him to ash, the little-"**_ Hiita would have finished that sentence if Aussa hadn't covered her mouth.

" _ **Hiita, watch your language!"**_ The earth charmer scolded.

" _ **Mind your blood pressure, Hot Cakes,"**_ Eria chimed in. " _ **Teacher warned you about that boiling point of yours."**_

" _ **What was that?!"**_ The fire charmer snapped, looking ready to fight her rival.

" _ **Now, come one guys, no need to start a fight."**_ Lyna said, trying to get in between them to keep them from fighting.

" _ **Here we go again…"**_ Dharc sighed, not getting involved.

Chazz looked over at Lily, who just whispered, "We'll explain later."

Wynn was the only one of the six focusing on the duel.

" _ **I've got a bad feeling about this."**_ She muttered, not liking the coincidence. The first day they get here and Aster shows up, that can't be just a moment of chance.

" _ **Don't worry, Wynn,"**_ The green haired charmer turned to White Magician Pikeru. " _ **Master Jaden will be okay, we just need to have faith in him."**_

Kuriboh cooed in agreement, having faith in his cousin's duelist.

Wynn looked at them before nodding with a smile, knowing they were right.

Black Luster Soldier had been quiet the whole time, watching Aster intently. ' _ **What are you up to, Phoenix? You don't strike me as the kind of guy who would go out of his way to do something that doesn't help your career, or to duel someone you've already beaten.'**_

Jesse's duel spirit chirped words only Jesse could understand. He smiled reassuringly at the little spirit's worried sounding words. ' _Don't worry, Ruby. Jaden'll be fine. He can handle Aster this time around.'_

Chazz looked at Jesse's spirit, not recognizing it. He felt like he knew that monster, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Anyway, I wonder what else he has in his deck." Alexis wondered, drawing everyone's attention back to the duel, the spirits deciding to take their leave at that time.

"Who knows?" Adrian shrugged, seriously not knowing since he had come to the same conclusion as Jaden and Black Luster Soldier.

"If he wants to beat Jaden, he's going to need more than that!" Vanesa scrutinized.

"He probably doesn't have much, I bet." Ms. Dorothy said off handedly.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Syrus asked turning to her.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Jim asked.

"It's simple," She responded turning their way, causing everyone to look at her. "He just assembled that deck this morning from random cards in the campus card shack."

 _Flashback_

 _Ms. Dorothy was getting the card shack set up for a new year when she noticed a silver haired kid in a suit come in. Since she didn't recognize him, she assumed he was a freshman._

" _Sorry, store doesn't open till next week."_

" _I just need a few cards." The young man reasoned._

 _She sighed, looking around for what was available "I haven't even stocked the shelves yet."_

" _Then I'll just take whatever's lying around," The teen said undeterred. "I can win a duel with pretty much anything."_

 _He took about eight packs of cards and started building a deck with them. In no time, he was done. "Perfect!"_

" _No offense," Dorothy told him, since she had watched him during the time. "But you won't last long at this school if you build your deck like that."_

" _I'll be fine." He assured her. "Besides, this is just a temporary deck. For a little test."_

 _This left Dorothy confused and a little suspicious._

 _Present_

"It's true." She finished, stroking Pharoah's head.

"You mean Jaden's dueling a guy with a deck of mixed matched cards!" Jesse raised an eyebrow, feeling confused and disgusted by whatever Aster was up to.

"That's just lame…" Ren muttered.

"Unless they're all from the same pack," Lily added. "They always have compatible cards."

"Gimme a break! Who duels with leftover cards?!" Chazz asked.

"That guy…" Alexis answered, not quite sure herself.

"Jay's gonna have a conniption when he figures it out." Midnight said, with a nervous look.

"Who says he hasn't already?" Vala asked her lover.

"Alright! Here goes!" Jaden drew his card.

"Looks like class is in session. So, meet your teacher! Elemental Hero Lady Heat!" A female Elemental Hero that Alexis, Chazz, and Syrus had never seen Jaden use before appeared. She was a blond and white skinned woman, wearing a white and red bodysuit, with an orange and red skirt (1300/1000).

"Next, I play H-Heated Heart, giving her 500 extra attack points and the ability to deal piercing damage!" A blue aura surrounded the heroine, giving her more power (1300-1800/1000).

"Ok, Freshman, time for your first lesson! Lady Heat, attack with Burning Soul!" Lady Heat nodded and flew towards the other monster, gathered fire in the palm of her hands and then threw it at the helpless Ojama, burning some of Aster's life points in the process.

Aster: 3200

Jaden: 4000

"Some lessons in life you have to learn the hard way," Jaden said as Lady Heat returned to his side. "And mine are going to be a little more interesting than the ones in class."

'AP' pretended to be impressed. "Wow! So, I guess it's true. You _are_ as good as they say."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, and if you play cards like Ojama, it doesn't make it that much of a challenge." Jaden told him.

"He's right." Chazz said smugly.

"Watcha do, take lessons from Chazz?" Chazz face planted at the jab, making everyone else laugh.

"Oh, and since it's the start of your turn, Lady Heat's power goes back to normal and you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental Hero I control." Lady Heat's power went down before she threw a fireball at her opponent (1800-1300/1000).

Aster: 3000

Jaden: 4000

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Aster drew and looked over his hand. ' _Soon, I'll learn all of Jaden's strategies. All I have to do is continue to play weak cards.'_

"I'll play this face down and -Huh?" They were soon interrupted by a cell phone going off. Guess who's.

"What the?" Jaden asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's cool. Just my cellphone!" 'AP' said, pulling out an orange mobile and proceeding to answer it.

"It's me. What's up?" Jaden sweatdropped and gained the strong urge to throttle the kid. "Nah, I'm not busy at all."

"In the middle of a duel?" Chazz asked, exasperated. "Who whips out a cellphone in the middle of a duel?"

"That's obnoxious." Axel added.

"Yeah, no joke." Adrian agreed.

"Forgetting who we're talking about." Vanesa muttered.

"He really is like you, Chazz." Syrus added, the insult going over Chazz's head.

"I wonder what that's about…" Jesse wondered.

Jaden closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Yubel appeared behind, mildly amused at her old friend's irritation. " _ **Deep breaths, Jaden."**_

" _Come to think of it,"_ A thought crossed Jaden's mind. " _I didn't think we had reception on this island."_

Yubel was surprised by this revelation, and looked at Aster again, her bad feeling returning ten fold.

"That's right," Aster spoke to the person on the other end. "Yeah, I'm dueling him as we speak."

 _Elsewhere_

In an isolated white room somewhere else, a man in a white cloak and hood was sitting at a table, looking at tarot cards, the kind that fortune tellers use.

"Excellent," He responded to Aster over the phone, possibly through a bluetooth enabler.

" _So, any last minute advice?"_ The pro asked.

The cloaked man turned over a card. It was a picture of a grim reaper with a long scythe, but the picture was upside down.

"The Reaper of Souls is in reverse." He said. "You know what must be done."

 _Back at Duel Academy_

"Absolutely! Thanks for the call." 'AP' replied as he shut off the phone and turned back to Jaden.

"Alright, off with the phone and on with the game!" Jaden exclaimed as 'AP' did just that. "You're gonna play a better card this time, right?"

"Oh, you mean something like this one? It's a spell card called Reload! And here's how it works. First, I toss all my cards. Then I put 'em right back in my deck and redraw!"

"So, you're getting a do-over." Jaden reiterated.

"You said yourself I needed better cards. So I thought I'd start over." 'AP' shuffled his four cards into his deck and drew a new hand.

"I didn't think you would actually listen, freshman!" The Elemental Hero duelist sighed. "This is starting to grate on my nerves. So tell me, kid, what else have you picked up from dueling me?"

"This!" Aster picked a card and put it in the field spell slot. "I activate the Sanctuary in the Sky!"

After a bright flash, the beach scenery was replaced with a floor of clouds and a castle right behind 'AP'.

"So, your big plan was a castle in the clouds?" Jaden wise-cracked. "Does something nice for the scenery, I'll give you that. Now what do you do, Freshman?"

"Now, I guess I play this, Warrior of Zera!" A warrior with a green armored chest plate, helmet, and arm guards, and blue pants appeared, holding a blue sword (1600/1600).

"Jaden's in trouble with this combo in play…" Rose stated.

"But here's a little twist for you! I'm sacrificing it to summon Archlord Zerato!" Zera was taken by a pillar of light and then another monster came from it in the sky wearing a red scarf with large white wings and a mask over his face with a cutlass sword in hand (2800/2300).

"And here's a little something else you might not've expected. I decided to send my Mystical Shine Ball to the graveyard!" Aster added. "And it takes all your monsters with it!"

A light from the highest pillar of the Sanctuary intensified, which eradicated Jaden's Elemental Hero.

"And now, Archlord Zerato, strike his life points directly! Sacred Surge!" Aster commanded.

Zerato's wings started to glow and he fired glowing feathers at Jaden who tensed for the impact.

Aster: 3000

Jaden: 1200

"That's gonna leave a mark!" Vala grimaced.

"Yeah," Syrus agreed. "It's like this one time at Duel Camp when an Archlord attacked me-"

"Zip it, Twerp!" Chazz interrupted.

"Aww, I wanted to hear the story!" Lily pouted, which made her look cute and made Syrus blush.

As they were arguing, Zerato descended to the ground in front of Aster.

"That's all for now." 'AP' concluded as he saw Jaden kneeling. "Hey, you ok?"

Jaden got to his feet, breathing hard. "I'm good. I just didn't expect a hit that strong. But now, it's time get dangerous!"

He drew. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!"

A round man man made of clay and mud appeared on the field (800/2000).

"And next, I activate my Metamorphosis spell card!" Jaden continued. "Then, I sacrifice Clayman to summon Elemental Hero Clay Guardian!"

Clayman's form changed into something resembling a football player. He now had a helmet, shoulder guards, and a red shield to block with (0/2800). "Go, Patrol Penalty!"

"What's that?" Aster asked, as some kind of force almost knocked him on his back. "Tell me!"

"More than happy to," Jaden smirked. "For each of your cards, you lose 200 points! So you just lost 600 big ones!"

Aster: 2400

Jaden: 1200

"Now, I'll throw down a face down and take five!"

"The new guy's in trouble." Dorothy noticed.

"Yeah, Clay Guardian can defend Jaden against Zerato since they have the same points as their current modes." Ren stated.

"Lemme lay the situation out for you. Unless you find a way through my defense, your chances of winning get slimmer each round." Jaden told his opponent.

"Wow, I've never seen Jaden act like this before…" Alexis commented on her friend's new attitude.

"Yeah, he's normally not this aggressive." Chazz added.

"Well in dueling you can't just cower and hide and hope to survive, you need to get aggressive." Vanesa pointed out.

"My draw!" 'AP' said. ' _Why is my manager so interested this guy? I didn't see much in him when we first dueled, still don't now, so why does Sartorius want me to duel him again? Well, no matter, it's time to end this duel and move on with my life.'_

 _Elsewhere_

Back in the white room, the cloaked man flipped over another tarot card. It showed a knight riding a two-headed, snake-horse hybrid, and it was upside down.

"Ah, the inverted Chariot," He mused. "A forewarning that the end is near."

 _Back at Duel Academy_

"Take your best shot, Freshman!" Jaden called out to his opponent.

"Whatever…" 'AP' drew. He looked at the card with disdain.

"Bad draw?" Jaden asked. "I know you have a better poker face than that."

"Maybe…" Aster said slyly. "Or maybe I just want you to think it's a bad card."

"Your little head games won't work on me this time!" Jaden told him confidently.

"We'll see just how confident you are once I play my Beckoning Light!" 'AP' countered. "Once I toss out my hand, a LIGHT attribute monster returns from my graveyard!"

"Then, I'll use Zerato's effect again!" 'AP' said. "And you know what that means, don't you?! You're Guardian's a goner!"

After discarding the card, the sanctuary activated and shot a light at Jaden's hero, destroying it.

"Not bad!" Jaden praised grudgingly.

"You think that's impressive? Watch this. Archlord, attack him directly! Sacred Surge!" The winged Archlord took to the sky, ready to strike.

"You're Archlord's not gonna get the chance! I play Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! Which, if you're a little slow, summons a Kuriboh! Specifically, my Winged Kuriboh!" Jaden little spirit friend appeared (300/200).

Zerato launched its attack at the furball, destroying the little guy.

"Thanks for taking the hit, partner." Jaden whispered to his friend, before turning back to his opponent.

'AP' watched Jaden, thinking back to the conversation he had with the white cloaked man he was talking to earlier.

 _Flashback_

 _Aster was standing in front of the table the man was sitting at, reading his tarot cards._

" _Once you locate Jaden Yuki, he is to defeat you, is that understood?" He asked. "It's the only way I can be certain that he is indeed the one. Trust me, it's for the best."_

" _There's gotta be another way," Aster exclaimed. "I've never thrown a duel."_

' _Plus, if we're both talking about the same person, I dueled him already. He's nothing special!'_ _Aster added in thought._

" _Aster, have I ever once steered you wrong?" The cloaked man asked. "You must trust in me."_

 _Present_

' _How can a manager tell his star player to lose!?'_ Aster wondered.

"All right! It's my turn! So stand back!" Jaden called, drawing his next card.

"Nice! I play Elemental Hero Bubbleman!" A hero in blue with a white cape appeared in front of Jaden (800/1200).

"Since my field's empty, then a get to draw two cards!" Jaden looked at his new cards and made a plan.

"I'll throw down a face down and then play this! Polymerization! I fuse Bubbleman, Avian, and Sparkman! In order to create Elemental Hero Tempest!" Jaden announced as the three heroes formed a blue armored hero with wild green hair, a visor over his eyes, gray wings with white metallic feathers, and his right arm was a silver cannon (2800/2800).

"Looks like Jaden's going in for the kill." Midnight noted at the play.

"Attack! Take him down with Glider Strike!" Tempest charged his cannon and fired a stream of blue energy at Zerato.

"He'll lose!" Syrus freaked out, since the two monsters had the same attack points.

"Ah, no, he won't." Alexis reminded him, remembering Tempest's special ability.

"What's wrong?" Chazz decided to kick the dog when he was down. "Ya didn't learn that in summer school?"

"Ohh." Syrus deflated.

Lily laughed a little at the look on his face.

"I'm sure you know what his ability is. All I have to do is send a card on my field to the graveyard. That way, my Tempest can't be destroyed!" Jaden's face down disappeared and Tempest hit his mark, Zerato being unable react in time.

Aster shielded himself from the hit, smirking a little since everything was going according to plan.

"Now for the grand finale! Go, De-Fusion! It turns Tempest back into the three monsters from before!" Jaden continued as Avian, Sparkman, and Bubbleman (1000/1000) (1600/1400) (800/1200).

"Alright, Jaden just won!" Jesse cheered.

Jaden knew he could do a simultaneous attack, but he wanted to prolong Aster's humiliation a little. "Bubbleman, you get first crack!"

Bubbleman fired a blast of bubbles at the pro, making him flinch.

Aster: 1600

Jaden: 1200

"Avian! Quill Cascade!" The feathered hero attacked with a shower of sharp feathers.

Aster: 600

Jaden: 1200

"Now, Sparkman! Finish him off with Static Shockwave!" The lightning hero let loose an electric flash, ending the duel.

Aster: 0

Jaden: 1200

"That's game!" Jaden said, walking up to Aster as the holograms faded. "I hope my triple assault didn't knock you around too hard."

"Nah, I'm fine," Aster said. "Nice game!"

"You too," Jaden offered his hand. "Not bad… for a freshman."

Aster returned the handshake. Before he could pull his hand back, Jaden tightened his grip and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I don't know what your game is here, Phoenix, but so help me if you drag my friends into it, you're going to see a very angry Jaden. This is between you and me, and this is your _only_ warning."

Aster just kept smiling, though his eyes said he got the message.

Back at the top of cliff, the gang watched as the boy talks.

"What a duel, huh, guys?" Dorothy asked. "And that new mystery student is quite the looker, don't ya think? Did anyone catch his name?"

"Uh… AP?" Syrus answered.

Then they noticed that AP was making his way up the hill. "See ya 'round, AP!"

As Aster walked away, he contemplated Jaden's actions. ' _I knew he was going to suspect something. Still, I don't get it. Sure, this Jaden kid has gotten better since Paris, but I don't get why my manager's so obsessed with him. And I still don't understand how joining this school is gonna help my career. But, I guess Sartorius knows best.'_

He took a glance at the spectators. Dorothy chuckled and waved to him. Aster smiled and nodded before moving on.

"Don't be a stranger… Stranger." She said as he left.

"So, what'd you guys about my first duel of the year?" Jaden asked, as he came up. "Come on, spill it!"

"You rocked! Way to play, Jay!" Syrus praised.

"Impressive!" Rose added.

"Anyone who thinks you're the best isn't the sharpest tack in the box." Chazz stated.

Jesse shot him a sidelong glare. Jaden caught that and repressed a grin.

"Maybe, but he was kinda cute." Alexis noted.

Rose and Lily giggled.

"Nice seeing you duel on your home turf." Vala added.

"Anyway, I'm sure we haven't seen the last of AP." Jaden said.

"Hey! Wait! He said is name is A.P…" Syrus pulled out a magazine with Aster's picture. "I knew it! He's Aster Phoenix!"

"Ok. He's got a weird name." Jaden shrugged, making a few exchange students snicker.

"Jaden, think! Aster Phoenix is the number one duelist in the World League!" Alexis stated. "As in: He's a pro!"

"You're kiddin' me! I mean, of course, you didn't know that!?" Chazz added.

"You were just as clueless as the rest of us…" Ren said.

"Wait, you guys just now realized this?" Jaden asked.

"You knew?!" Those who weren't the exchange kids asked.

Jaden sighed. "We crossed paths when we stopped in Paris, didn't get along. And before anyone says, I know that wasn't his real deck."

"Cheer up." Syrus said.

"At least you won…" Alexis said.

"That's right, you legend, you." Chazz teased.

Jaden glared in the direction Aster went, and if looks could kill that look would at least maim someone. "Okay, Aster, this game is still on and I won't take a win from you until it's against your real deck!"

Alexis looked at Jaden, feeling confused as to why he was taking this so personally. "Jaden… What happened in Paris?"

"We crossed paths, I dueled him, I didn't know what I was getting into, I was overpowered, and I lost, okay? End of discussion." Jaden walked off in a huff to emphasis.

Jesse and Rose exchanged a glance before he walked after him.

"What was that about?" Chazz asked, dumbfounded by the Slifer's attitude.

"I don't know," Alexis answered, just as dumbfounded and a little hurt. "He's never acted like that before. He didn't act like that when he lost to Zane."

"I think the problem is that Aster isn't like Zane." Rose reasoned.

"What do you mean?" Dorothy asked, setting Pharoah down.

"Zane's a lot like my dad," Midnight explained. "He's an honorable duelist, treats his opponents with respect."

"Aster on the other hand, is a lot like _my_ dad," Vala jumped in. "Or at least how he used to be. He liked to kick a dog when he was down, rub salt their wounds."

"He didn't seem like that just now." Syrus mentioned.

"It was an act." Axel spoke up.

"That guy thinks he's the best in the world and he's got an ego to match." Adrian elaborated.

"Anyway," Rose cut in. "Let's give Jaden some space. Jesse knows what to do."

The guys weren't sure what she meant, but they went with it.

 _With Jaden_

Jaden walked around behind the dorm, just needing some space.

This wasn't how he wanted things to go. He didn't want his friends to see this, not the anger he held towards Aster. He just wanted to come back and spend the year with his friends and boyfriend. He had been hoping it would be a quiet year, but with Aster showing up he had a feeling things were going to get hectic soon.

"Jaden?" Said boy turned to see Jesse coming up to him. "You okay?"

If it had been anyone else he would have said yes, but he couldn't lie to Jesse. "No, I'm not. I'm turning into a jerk in front of my friends. Plus, Aster shows up the first day back and he challenges me with a random deck. I can't help feeling like something bad's going to happen."

It pained Jesse to see his lover like this, frustrated and fearful. He wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay, but even he couldn't deny the suspicions he was feeling. The best thing he could do was reassure Jaden that he wasn't alone.

"Don't worry," He took Jaden's hands in his own. "Whatever comes next, we'll deal with it together. You won't be alone."

Jaden looked at their hands, feeling shy at how honest his old friend was feeling. "Thanks, Jess."

The two friends turned lovers embraced each other and shared a kiss.

Yubel made an appearance, smiling. She was glad Jaden was happy, and that Jesse made him happy.

She took this time to go back over to where the duel and had been and take a closer look. Using her power to look over the area with a fine toothed comb, she found she was right in a way she hoped she wouldn't.

She sensed the faint residue of an ancient evil. One she remembered all too well.

' _ **So, it's made it's move,'**_ Yubel thought, grimly. ' _ **And Aster's been caught up in it's game.'**_

She decided not to tell Jaden what she'd found. She'd let him enjoy the peace while it lasted.

 **And there we go!**

 **Crystal: Took long enough!**

 **I know. By the way, I was thinking about adding in another OC. Do you guys want me to? If so, do you want me to go back to the beginning and put him in or wait until the third season?**

 **Eric: And speak up people! She can't decide if you don't tell her.**

 **Casey: She also got an offer to beta write with 4fireking**

 **Yeah, I'm gonna be busy. Anyway, read, review, and stay tuned for our next chapter!**

 **All: Happy Thanksgiving! (And try not to kill each other on Black Friday)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys! I'm back with the next chapter. This one might be a little lengthy. So without a moment's delay, Crys will say the disclaimer.**

 **Crystal: What?**

 **That's right! So, on you go!**

 **Crystal: Fine! Wolf doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX. She only owns her OC's. She's also going to use some of Princessanime08 and ShadowSpirit020's (formerly Lightclaw's Shadow) cards that they made so credit goes to them.**

Chapter 4: Academy Kickoff

Today was the official first day of Duel Academy and everyone is currently in the main classroom. Almost every student was there, sitting according to rank.

Everyone was talking about the changing of the guard with Crowler and how much that was going to suck, but there was also some curious chatter about the new exchange students.

One question came up among a certain two Slifers.

"Hey, Syrus, where's Jaden?" Chazz asked the shorter one.

"He said he had to be part of the welcome ceremony, so he's backstage with the others." Syrus explained.

"And he's on time?"

"Yeah, strangely he was up before I was."

"Must be the time change messing with him." Atticus offered up, who had decided to sit with them.

Crowler and Bonaparte came into the room.

"Alright, students, settle down! Now, you all know me, I'm your new chancellor, Chancellor Crowler, but let's get down to business. As many of you are aware, our summer exchange program took place this past academic year. This year though, we're trying something different. The students from the other schools that participated will be attending here for the school year, to share their experiences with you."

As he was talking a map came up on the screen behind him. "So, without further ado, let's meet our guests. First, from East Academy, Adrian Gecko and Ren Ishikawa."

The two East Academy students walked, Adrian putting on a smile for the crowd while Ren acted completely indifferent to the situation.

Speaking of Ren, he was wearing a different outfit compared to yesterday. He wore black slacks, a black pullover vest, a pale button up that fit the length of his arms perfectly, and even a tie. Ren was currently an embodiment of wealth, culture, and elegance.

"Next, from West Academy, Axel Brodie and Vanesa Johansen." The West Academy students marched out like a couple of military students. They stood at attention like that, too.

"From South Academy, Jim Cook and Lillian Martin." Lily came bounding onto the stage with Jim walking in right behind her, Shirley making a commotion on his back.

Lily was also in a new outfit. She was wearing a white t-shirt with an advertisement for an unknown planetarium under a short-sleeve yellow hoodie with pink stars on it, a turquoise blue ruffled mini-skirt, mid-calf multi-colored striped socks, and white and green high-top sneakers with purple laces and two stars near the heels.

"Hi, everyone!" Lily greeted, waving to the crowd. This got a reaction out of a lot of the boys, especially Syrus.

Crowler continued. "From North Academy, Jesse Anderson."

Jesse came out, greeting everyone with a wave, only a little calmer than Lily.

When Chazz heard Jesse's full name, a lightbulb went off in his head. "Wait, Jesse Anderson? No way, he's the kid with the Crystal Beast cards!"

"Crystal whats?" Syrus asked.

"Speak up, Chazz," Atticus grinned. "What do you know?"

"A couple of years ago, Pegasus created some cards. But his corporation didn't release them. My family offered him millions for 'em, but he refused to sell."

"Why?"

"The legend of the deck goes way back to the Ancient Romans. Their emperor, Julius Caesar, managed to gather seven rare jewels from around the world, one from each place he conquered. But while they were being transported back to Rome, the ship was caught in a storm and the jewels were lost. Until Pegasus found them. Then he took a fragment of each one and created seven new cards."

"The Crystal Beast cards?" Syrus asked.

"How'd ya get so smart, Shrimp? Yes, the Crystal Beast cards. Then he gave them away to some tournament winner."

"So, Jesse was that winner." Atticus summed up, looking back to the stage.

"From Duel Tech University," Crowler continued. "Vala Kaiba and Midnight Muto!"

Gasps and murmurs were heard from all over the room as the two girls came in. Vala ignored it, but Midnight smiled at the crowd.

"Finally, from our American counterpart, Rosalie Smith." The redheaded student walked him, looking every part the sophisticated prep school girl.

Bastion was only half listening to the whole introduction, since these kinds of event weren't his thing. However, when he heard Rose's name, he gasped softly and started paying attention. When he saw the redhead, he was stunned.

' _What's_ she _doing here?!'_ He thought.

Rose glanced out at the audience, and her eyes fell on Bastion. She smiled, looking nostalgic. ' _I had a feeling we'd meet again, Bastion.'_

"And last but not least, welcoming back _our_ representative, Duel Academy's own Jaden Yuki." Crowler finished, though he was least enthusiastic about that.

Everyone cheered as Duel Academy's favorite Slifer joined the other students on the stage. Many of the students noticed that Jaden was a little different, he carried himself a little differently. Plus, some of the females noted he went from cute to hot.

"Now that our guests have been welcomed, it's time for the next order of business," Crowler continued on. "Today will also be the first official duel of the year. The duelists will be given an hour to prepare their decks, so in the meantime get to know our new arrivals. Make friends and play nicely."

"Does this guy think we're in first grade?" Vala quipped, Midnight giggling at her girlfriend's snarkiness.

As everyone headed out or over to the new kids to get to know them, Bastion walked down the stairs and stopped, looking at Rose. He wanted to go up to her, but he wasn't sure how to do it without people asking questions.

As he was thinking this, he saw Rose slip out a side door, looking his direction. She gave him a discreet signal to follow him.

Bastion followed Rose out the door and they were soon in an empty corridor. They stood a couple inches across from each other and just stared at each other for a while. There were a lot of things Bastion wanted to say, but none of them wanted to come out.

Rose was the one who spoke first. "I missed you."

That seemed to clear up the build up in Bastion's mouth. "It's been a long time, Rose."

"You wanna go see the duel, or play catch-up?" She asked.

Bastion hesitated. "I think we have some catching up to do."

She nodded and then they headed outside.

 _One Hour Later, Main Arena_

Everyone was chatting excitedly in the main arena as the two duelists were on the platform shuffling each other's decks. The first duelist was Chazz and the other one was a spiky brown haired Obelisk kid.

"Look who it is," The Obelisk said. "The guy who got booted from the blues. You're goin' down."

"Look, Kid, you're an obnoxious little punk, and I can respect that," Chazz smirked. "But no snot nosed-freshman can stand up to the Chazz!"

Meanwhile, in the hall outside the arena, Jaden and Jesse were running towards said arena.

"Maybe we should have had our "us" time in a private part of the school instead of going back to the dorms." Jaden said off-handedly.

"You weren't complaining." Jesse replied with a sneaky look on his face.

Jaden then proceeded to try and trip his boyfriend, but Jesse managed to dodge the attempt. Jesse then tackled his boyfriend in a bear hug, nearly sending them to the ground.

"Hey, Jesse, that was dangerous!" Jaden scolded.

"So, why are you smiling?" Jesse countered.

"Let go, we're gonna miss the duel!" Jaden tried to get out of his boyfriend's arms, but he held face.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" An amused voice came from behind them.

They turned to see Alexis, Syrus, and Lily behind them. The girls were amused and Syrus was red-faced.

Jaden also went red at being caught.

"Uh, hey, guys." He said, not sure what else to say.

"Are you guys… together?" Syrus asked slowly.

"... Yes." Jaden answered, his voice quite soft since he wasn't sure how his friends would react.

"You guys look so cute together!" Lily squealed, clapping.

"I approve of this." Alexis nodded.

"See, Jay, I told you things would be fine." Jesse smiled at his boyfriend.

Jaden nodded shyly, before moving to head toward the arena. "Come on, let's go watch the duel."

"We're with you!" Jesse smiled, walking hand in hand with him. The others followed behind.

"Bonjour!" Bonaparte spoke into a microphone. "I'm sure by now you all know moi!"

The group soon came into the room, seeing Chazz facing an Obelisk on the arena.

"Who's the short, fat, bald guy?" Syrus asked, getting a repressed laugh from Lily.

"For those who don't, I'm your vice-chancellor, Jean Louis Bonaparte!" He introduced. "But enough about me. This is about him, former Obelisk blue student Chazz Princeton! If he wins, he goes back to the blue dorm! Trust me; This is a duel you don't wanna miss!"

"Did you guys hear that?" Jaden asked, as they walked to some open seats. "If Chazz wins this duel, he gets a free pass back to Obelisk blue!"

"I would have bet on you being chosen for that." Jesse said.

"If you ask me, that should be Jaden," Syrus added. "What boob would pick Chazz?"

"This boob!" The five students turned to see the Obelisk headmaster standing behind them.

"Dr. Crowler!" Syrus exclaimed.

"It's Chancellor Crowler, now!" He corrected him. "And there's a reason I chose Chazz for this duel. Quite a brilliant reason, in fact."

"Somehow I doubt that." Alexis muttered.

"What was that?" Crowler glared. "Do you slackers know who joined this year's freshman class? Duelist league all-star Aster Phoenix!"

"He enrolled here?" Alexis gasped.

"As a student?" Syrus joined.

"Where is he?" Jaden asked, looking around the arena for any sign of the silver haired snob.

"Well, that's just it! For some reason, he never showed up!" Crowler chewed on a handkerchief.

 _Flashback_

 _Crowler was in his office having a bout of depression after Aster didn't show up. "He loves Duel Academy. He loves us not. He loves Duel Academy. He loves us not. He loves Duel Academy. He loves us-"_

 _"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Bonaparte snapped as he came into the room._

 _"I needed some "me" time. Is that alright with you?" Crowler snapped, defensively._

 _"Why? So you can torture flowers?" The vice-chancellor retorted._

 _"No, so I can deal with the Aster debacle!" Crowler answered, deflating a little. "What did I do to make him hate us?"_

 _Crowler then went back to the old flower trick. "He hates our school. He hates us not. He hates our school. He hates us not."_

 _He then got to the last petal._

 _"He hates us," He said glumly, then freaked out. "It's me! I've driven him away!"_

 _This lasted for about five seconds. "Oh, well, there's no sense dwelling in the past."_

 _He got up and ran over to his desk to hold up a hand made poster for a duel, with Chazz and another duelist's picture on it. "We can't find a star, so we'll have to create one! And Chazz Princeton is the perfect candidate to launch Duel Academy into the spotlight."_

 _"He can't be the face of our school!" Bonaparte protested. "He's a Slifer red for pete's sake!"_

 _"Not for long," Crowler assured. "This duel will be his chance to return to glory. It's called "marketing". Look it up! You see, crowds will come rushing to see if Chazz still has what it takes."_

 _Present_

After finishing the story, Crowler stood there looking pleased with himself.

"That's the most selfish, egotistical thing I've ever heard." Alexis said, disgusted.

"Agreed!" Jaden said in the same manner.

"Thank you!" The chancellor grinned.

The group just sweatdropped.

"Let's just go find seats." Jesse suggested.

"But where?" Lily asked.

"Hey guys, over here!" The five turned to see the other transfers minus Rose sitting in the front row, waving to them.

"Looks like we found our spot, let's go." Alexis said, as she and the others made their way over to them.

When they got there, Jaden noticed someone was missing. "Where's Rose?"

"Not sure," Adrian shrugged. "Maybe she went back to the dorms."

"Yeah, she's more sensitive to the time changes then we are." Ren agreed.

"Give a big Duel Academy welcome to our challenger!" Bonaparte announced, getting their attention. "He's our top ranking freshman! So give it up for Mr. Reginald Van Howell III!"

The crowd cheer as the Obelisk raised his arm.

"This Reginald kid must be a pretty good duelist," Jaden commented. "It's his first year in this place and he's already in Obelisk blue."

"No joke. He's just like Chazz," Syrus compared. "Well, before he became a has-been."

 _'The whole school is abuzz,'_ Crowler thought in glee. _'Now all I need is for Chazz to win. Then his family's name and pocketbook will make me chancellor of the most powerful prep school on earth.'_

"Alright, you know the drill. No direct attacks below the belt, but trash talk is encouraged." The short man said as he got off the platform, with some difficulty.

"Then allow me to kick off the insults!" Reggie said. "You're a nasty, stuck up snob, and no one here like you!"

"I'm waiting for the insult," Chazz replied, surprising the freshman with his attitude. "Maybe you haven't picked up on this, Little Reggie, but I do things my way. And I didn't come here to win any popularity contests!"

"Tell us something we don't know!" Jaden said.

"Yeah, Chazz. I didn't take all those noogies and purple nurples as a sign of friendship." Syrus added, making Lily giggle again.

"All right. Let's get on with this. Talk is cheap. And unlike you," Chazz pointed to Reggie. "I don't do cheap."

"Now that the insults have been hurled," Bonaparte said. "Let's hurl some cards!"

"Sounds good!" Both duelists called, and the duel began.

(A/N: Since this duel's the same as the one in the anime, I'm just going to skip to the scene with Bastion and Rose.)

 _Meanwhile_

Bastion and Rose were walking out by the beach. They passed the time in either small talk or silence. At some point they found a small snack shack. They sat down at the counter for a drink and to take in the view.

"School in paradise." Rose murmured.

"Yeah, it's a great school," Bastion nodded. "Even though things got a little weird near the end of last year."

Rose laughed, then turned back to the ocean. They sat in silence for a while longer before Rose spoke up again. "How have things been since you left London?"

"They've been quiet, for the most part. Kinda lonely without my best friend."

"Ah."

"What about you?" Bastion changed the subject. "How's school in America?"

"It's in California, so there's a beach not too far from campus," Rose said. "However, it pales in comparison to this beach."

They sat in silence again, and then it was Bastion's turn to break the silence. "Do you still use that Fairy deck from when we were kids?"

Rose nodded. "Do you still have that Japanese Undead deck you used to use?"

"Somewhere," Bastion laughed. "I've made several decks over the years."

Rose laughed as well. "You always were an overachiever."

They laughed again and then they settled down for a more relaxed silence. The awkward tension was gone and they were talking like they had years ago.

"So, Bastion," Rose gave a smirk. "Wanna duel? Use your Yokai deck, it'll be just like old times."

Bastion stared at her, then returned her smirk and nodded. "I'll duel you, Rose, but probably not right now. I haven't used that deck in a while, I'll need some time to get reacquainted with it."

"Okay," Rose jumped off the stool she was sitting on. "We shall meet a week from today at twilight!"

"Why twilight?" Bastion blinked, forgetting how dramatic his friend could be when she wanted to be.

"Well, my monsters are mostly LIGHT attribute and that deck has mostly DARK attribute monsters. Twilight's when light and darkness are equal, so it seems fitting." Rose explained, like it was so obvious.

Bastion looked at her and just started laughing, Rose soon joining him before looking confused. "What's so funny?"

Bastion managed to quell his laughter, wiping away tears. "I'll be there."

Rose smiled. "It's a date."

She missed the blush formed on his face at that comment.

 _Back with the others_

The duel, needless to say, was fierce. Both sides throwing their best at the other. In the end though, Chazz was victorious.

After the duel, Syrus got up and went to go find a bathroom. When he got into the hallway, he saw Lily was also there.

"Hi, Lily," He walked over to her. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to have some room to stretch," Lily said, doing just that. "You can only sit still for so long."

"Oh."

"And I have a question of my own," She added, looking past him. "What's that guy doing?"

Syrus turned to look and saw an Obelisk he had never seen before sneaking around, like they were playing spy. They had brown eyes and short messy brown-blond hair.

Deciding to see what was up, Lily and Syrus walked over to the Obelisk. "Hey, what are you doing?"

When Sy started talking, the mystery kid jumped and squeaked. They whorled around, clutching at their chest where their heart was. "Please, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Oh, sorry!" Syrus apologized. "Anyway, are you new here? I haven't seen you around before."

"Uh, yeah, I'm new. My name's Bella. Bella Kuda."

"Nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Lillian, but everyone calls me Lily, and this is Syrus."

"Wait! You're a girl?!" Syrus just now realized that the person they thought was a boy just used a girl's name.

You kinda can't blame him, since Bella was on the petite side and she had a boyish face. Not to mention the fact she had short hair and was wearing the male's uniform hadn't helped with the differences.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," She said, brushing it off. "But that's not important right now, I'm trying to spy on people."

"Who are you spying on?" Lily asked.

"They're in there." They put their ears to the wall by the door, and heard the unmistakable voices of a certain gruesome twosome.

"But this makes an even bigger story for the press!" Crowler argued.

"Forget about the press!" Bonaparte snapped. "If you want this school to rise to greatness, there needs to be some changes made! I told you before, we need to bid the Slifers adieu!"

"You were serious?" Crowler asked.

"I don't kid, Crowler. It's high time we tear down the Slifer dorm!"

"Tear down the Slifer dorm?!" Syrus and Lily freaked out, Bella nearly jumping a mile at that. "We gotta tell Jaden!"

 _Slifer Dorm_

They found Jaden in his room with Jesse, thankfully not in the middle of something. After a quick introduction for Bella, they told them what they just heard.

"WHAT?" They both shouted, Bella was positive that they were heard across the island. "Did you just say "tear down the Slifer dorm"?"

"Are you guys positive?" Jaden wanted to be sure.

"Unfortunately, yes!" Bella confirmed.

"They wanna get rid of us," Syrus replied. "I'm tellin' ya, I saw this in a movie once. These guys in dark suits show up. Then they tell us we're gonna "sleep with the fishes", and no one hears from us again!"

"No offense, Syrus, but that sounds like something from a bad mobster movie." Jesse said, doubting that would actually happen.

Jaden was too, until the room started shaking.

"Oh no! We're too late!" He freaked.

"You're right! That means we're all gonna get whacked!" Syrus added.

"Let's get out of here!" Lily suggested and they all ran out the door.

But once they got outside, they realized it was just construction crew adding on to the dorm.

"What's all this?" Jaden asked.

"I'll tell you," Chazz called up to them. "These guys are building a private room onto this dump! I figure if I'm gonna be stuck in this place, I may as well be living in style."

"Give us a warning next time, Chazz!" Jesse yelled.

"Yeah, that scared us half to death!" Lily added.

"There's a year of my life down!" Bella groaned, leaning over the rail.

Jaden turned to Syrus. "So much for your theory."

"I guess I got a little carried away," Syrus said sheepishly. "Sorry for the scare. I think I should lay off the late night movies for a while."

 _'But I wonder if what they overheard was true. Do they really wanna tear done our dorm?'_ Jaden wondered.

 _Later That Evening_

After getting over that shock, everyone calmed down and hung out for the rest day. After Bella, Jesse, and Lily went back to their dorms, the Slifers settled in for the night.

Syrus was already asleep, but Jaden was still up, the events of the day still plaguing his mind.

" _ **Can't sleep?"**_ He turned over to see Yubel looking at him, worried.

"I'm just worried this is a sign of things to come." Jaden explained.

" _ **Don't worry, we'll be fine,"**_ Yubel reassured her partner, sitting on the bed next to him. " _ **Besides, I'm sure there are rules that say they can't just tear down a dorm without legitimate reasons."**_

He smiled. "Thanks, Yubel."

" _ **Also, I want to talk to you about Bella."**_

"Why? What is it?"

" _ **She has a surprisingly high amount of duel energy in her, as well as multiple duel spirits. I've never seen a duelist like her before."**_

"Is that a bad thing?"

" _ **Jury's still out, but I do feel like she's not telling us something."**_

"I'm sure it's nothing bad. She'll tell us when she's ready."

" _ **I suppose you're right,"**_ Yubel sighed, smiled, and stroked Jaden's hair in a motherly way. " _ **Now, you should probably get some sleep."**_

"Yes, mom." Jaden muttered, before finally closing his eyes.

Yubel chuckled as she watched her friend finally fall asleep.

With Bella, she was talking with a couple of her spirits, too. They were the Ojamas, but hers looked female. They also had names, the yellow one was called Cherry, the black one was called Blackberry, and the green was called Lime. They were all talking about the day and they people they met.

" _ **I'm glad our brothers have found a duelist that think's they're worth something."**_ Cherry said.

" _ **Even though he didn't seem to like them."**_ Blackberry added.

" _ **Yeah."**_ Lime agreed.

"They all seem to be quite interesting." Bella imputed.

" _ **Hey, Bella,"**_ Cherry looked to her duelist. " _ **Some of the stronger spirits sensed something different about that Jaden kid."**_

" _ **They also sensed something in the other guys, Jesse, Lily, and Chazz."**_ Blackberry added.

" _ **Even we could tell."**_ Lime jumped in.

"They could probably see spirits like I can," Bella reasoned as she got ready for bed.

She hesitated with a question. "How strong?"

" _ **Temshin said Jaden and Jesse were really close, Lily wasn't all that far behind, and Chazz was not even close."**_ Blackberry answered.

"I see."

" _ **Don't worry, Bella, I'm sure there are others like you."**_ Cherry reassured her.

Bella smiled at her spirits. "Thanks, guys. Well, I'm gonna go to bed. If you guys are gonna have a party, try to keep it down."

" _ **We will! Good night, Bella!"**_ The girls said before leaving.

"Good night."

 **Finally, this chapter's done at 1:00 AM. Just letting you all know Bella's not mine, she belongs to Generalhyna. Hopefully, I got her character right. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I'm gonna go to bed know. Read, review, and stay tuned.**


End file.
